


Will You Recall Your Time As A Child With Fondness?

by WitchesAndWolfhounds (CatsWithUnicorns)



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 20:23:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11997285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatsWithUnicorns/pseuds/WitchesAndWolfhounds
Summary: Emily remembers back to how things used to be with her and Jessamine.





	Will You Recall Your Time As A Child With Fondness?

It had been a long road for the young Empress, having her mother brutally murdered right in front of her by the very man that took her from her home.

Corvo, her father had eventually found her held captive by Havelock. The masked assassin suddenly disappeared to reappear right in front of them, Havelock then receiving a bullet to the brain, sending him toppling over the ledge just as Corvo reached out to pull Emily away.

“I knew you’d come for me,” she smiled as he held her close.

She breathed in the smell of him. His clothes strongly smelled of sweat, blood and alcohol, though it didn’t seem to actually bother her in the least.

“I would never let anything happen to you, Emily.” He replied in his usual gruff voice.

She took his hand, allowing him to lead her back down the lift. As they entered the throne room, which looked clean in comparison with the rest of the palace. Corvo led her to the throne itself.

Emily swallowed now, feeling slightly nervous. “I’m Empress now,” she looked up at him.

“Yes, Emily.” He nodded. “But don’t worry. I’ll protect you from anyone and everyone.”

She smiled at this, burying her face into him as she hugged him tightly. Corvo rubbed her back as she cried. He knew this wasn't a great responsibility for someone so young, but he would guide her no matter what.

xXx

As the palace slowly settled back in, Emily was finding it difficult with all what was going on around her now. She found herself listening to the pleas and demands of the people. Some shouted at her, fought with others and even tried to take her from the throne. Luckily Corvo dealt with such things for her.

“I wish mother was here,” she sighed as Corvo tucked her in.

He stroked back her hair, giving her a kiss on the top of her head. “Your mother’s always with you,” he reassured, while handing her Mrs Pilsens.

She took her and held her close.

“Goodnight, Em.” He smiled, standing from her bed to head out.

Emily closed her eyes, thinking about the fun times she and Jessamine had together, though not all of it had been fun as she so remembered all too well.

_“Mother, can we go horse riding again?”_

_Jessamine shushed her. “Not now, Emily.”_

_“But mother,” she whined._

_“Emily, can’t you see I’m busy enough as it is.”_

_She ran from the room in tears, bumping into Corvo in the process._

_“Princess is everything alright?” he asked._

_“Mother won’t spend any time with me,” she sobbed loudly, hoping Jessamine would pick up on it._

_Corvo picked her up and took her to someplace quiet._

_“Your mother's got a lot of work on her hands,” he explained._

_Emily sniffled. “But she was never this nasty to me before.”_

_Corvo lowered his head, sighing lightly. “Things are getting a little out of hand.”_

_“I know about the rats,” she told him. “And I know you’ll be sent away too.”_

_He nodded glumly, wrapping an arm around her. “I’ll be back before you know it.”_

_“Good,” she smiled._

xXx

_When the time came to send Corvo off, Jessamine had made sure to get her point across that he really shouldn’t be going._

_“He is supposed to be my protector, not some errand boy!” she snapped._

_The spymaster glared at her, watching as Corvo told her everything would be fine until his return. Emily watched him go. She was saddened that she couldn’t be there to see him off personally because of her studies._

_“My lady, are you paying attention?” her tutor asked sternly._

_Emily ignored her, turning around and headed off, locking herself away in her room._

_“My lady, you cannot just walk away from this. Your mother put me in charge of you, my lady.”_

_It wasn’t long before there was a knock at her door._

_“Go away!” she snapped, thinking it was her mean old tutor._

_“Emily, open this door now.”_

_No, it was her mother._

_“No!” she still snapped back._

_“Emily, I will open it myself if you won’t.” Jessamine threatened._

_Emily said nothing, instead listening to the sound of a key turning in the lock._

_“Emily, why did you leave your studies?” Jessamine demanded to know._

_Lying on the bed, facing away from her mother, she still didn’t reply._

_“Emily, I asked you a question.”_

_“I don’t feel like it,” she now simply replied._

_Jessamine took a breath, shaking her head slightly. She moved over to the bed, sitting herself down next to her daughter._

_“I’m sorry I’ve not had time for you lately,” she apologised._

_Emily hugged Mrs Pilsen tightly as her mother continued._

_“I promise to make it up to you, now that it’s just the two of us. What do you think we should do first?”_

_Emily shrugged, still not taken by it._

_"I know how you like to spar with Corvo, but....." Jessamine thought._

_"How about hide and seek?" Emily asked, now sitting up from the bed._

_Jessamine nodded. "I think a little game of hide and seek would be quite fun."_

_Emily jumped from the bed, dropping Mrs Pilsen on it before running out shouting "you're counting."_

_Jessamine watched her go with a smile before she picked up her daughter's doll. She lifted her up to hold to her chest._

_"One day my daughter, you will be Empress. I hope that you don't fail as I have."_

_She gave the doll a looking over before heading off to find her daughter._

_"Emily," she called throughout the palace, hoping to coax her out._

_Emily giggled from her position behind the chest in Corvo's room._

_Jessamine opened the door, peeking inside first before fully coming in to look around._

_"Emily," she called again._

_Just as she was turning to leave someone jumped her from behind._

_"Here I am," Emily laughed._

_Jessamine turned, a hand to her heart. "I didn't realise you were in here," she smiled._

_Emily pushed her out the room. "Your turn to hide now, mother."_

_Emily now stood counting, leaving Jessamine to go hide someplace. She looked around, wondering where the best place would be. She stopped at Emily's bedroom door, thinking about going in._

_Emily searched high and low, not bothering to think of her own room._

_Mother," she called out. "Mummy, where are you?"_

_Jessamine heard her call, knowing she was getting upset and headed out._

_"Here sweetheart," she called, making her daughter run over to embrace her._

_"I thought I'd lost you," Emily frowned up at her._

_Jessamine stroked back her hair. "I would never leave you," she reasurred._

_"Will you read to me tonight or sing. I would like you to sing me one of your favourite songs."_

_"I...."_

_"Please, mother._

_"Alright, I think I'll sing you one of my old favourites from when I was young."_

_Emily smiled giddily, rushing off to wait for her mother in the living room. Jessamine took a seat on the sofa next to her daughter, Emily then leaned over snuggling up as Jessamine sang a song._

_"What's wrong, mother?" Emily asked, hearing a sniffle._

_"Nothing darling," she told her, wiping her eyes._

_Emily frowned. "I thought that song was a favourite of yours from when you were younger. Isn't it supposed to make you happy?"_

_Jessamine nodded. "I am happy, sweetheart."_

_"But you're crying."_

_Jessamine nodded, making Emily wonder why if she was happy, why was she was crying?_

xXx

_The next day, Jessamine was ready to play with Emily again when the royal pain of a spymaster decided to break them up._

_"Your majesty," he greeted._

_Jessamine glared at him. "What is it? Can you not see that I was in the middle of...."_

_"My apologies, your majesty. But I bring news you would not want to miss out on."_

_Emily took her mother's hand, trying to pull her away._

_She turned, looking down on her and Emily knew what was coming._

_"Go find something to do while I talk with lord Burrows."_

_"But mother," Emily complained._

_"No, Emily," she told her._

_Emily let go, watching as Burrows beamed at her. "I really hate you," Emily now glared at him._

_"This better not be a waste of my time," Jessamine scowled._

_"Not at all, your majesty." He shook his head, following her into a room._

_Emily waited and waited, the hours passed and she was rather bored, something which she was quite a lot when Corvo or her mother couldn't play with her._

_"Finally," Emily smiled, seeing Burrows finally leaving._

_She ran over, heading into the room to find her mother with her hands covering her face._

_"Mother," she called._

_Jessamine quickly lowered her hands to look at her daughter. "Emily," she smiled._

_"Can we play again?"_

_Jessamine shook her head. "I can't, I have to work on these."_

_Emily looked to the papers and moaned._

_"Find something to entertain yourself," Jessamine shooed her._

_Emily left the room, coming back later with a piece of paper in her hand. Her mother was standing by the audiograph machine, just clicking it off as she walked in on her._

_"Were you recording something, mother?" she asked._

_"Yes, and it is not to listen to just yet." Jessamine told her, waving the card as she spoke._

_"Why not?" Emily pouted._

_She gave her a look as if to say 'no, Emily' as she slipped the card into her draw._

_Emily didn’t bother about it too much, instead going back to the reason why she was there. "I made this for you," she smiled._

_Jessamine put her pen back down again, taking up the paper instead._

_"Do you like it?" she asked._

_"I love it. Thank you, Emily."_

_Emily felt proud knowing she’d made her mother happy once again, if only for a short time that was anyway._

xXx

Emily stirred from her slumber, opening one eye to see Corvo walk over with what looked to be an audio machine. He placed it up upon the cabinet as quietly as he could, not knowing Emily was awake. He then turned around and headed back out again.

“Why would he put it up there, so I can’t reach it?” she pondered.

She threw off the blanket, standing upon the bed. She jumped a few times, seeing that it had a card in it. She stopped and reached up, eventually finding the button. The machine started up, the voice of her mother could then be heard.

_“Emily, my daughter, I know that one day you will be grown up and I wonder what you’ll remember of these years. Will you recall your time as a child with fondness? Or were there too many caretakers, formal dinners and lessons about boring old history?_

_Maybe the precious hours we spent together will shine bright; time captured now and then with your mother and with Corvo, who was always close to my heart. I hope the season of rats and plague will be nothing more than a passing shadow on your early memories. A crisis come and passed, weathered by your mother and her advisors._

_You’ll sit on the throne someday, and will do well I hope. It’s a tricky life, full of responsibility and peril. It was not your choice to be the daughter of an Empress, but I believe you will rise to the challenge._

_Stay good hearted, Emily. Keep drawing and telling stories. And only share your power with those you truly trust.”_

The machine clicked off then, leaving Emily speechless. She dropped back to the bed, curling up with her doll, she cried herself back to sleep.

xXx

Fifteen years later found Emily sitting upon the same bed. She was reading through a letter Wyman had not long since left her. She placed it back on the bed, looking up to find the audiograph machine still where Corvo had placed it

"Mother's last message to me," she remembered. 

Standing from the bed, she reached up on her tiptoes to start up the machine. Jessamine gave her speech as if she was standing next to her. 

"I wish I could talk to my mother one last time," she sighed as the machine clicked off.

She climbed on the bed, pulling out the card she stuffed it in her coat pocket. There was no way she would allow Delilah to listen to this or possibly destroy it. 

"Time to end Delilah's reign once and for all,"she smiled as she exited the tower, now looking down on her first victim.

She pulled Corvo's sword free of her belt and flicked it open. She looked the steel over, seeing how well made it was for cutting through flesh and bone. 

"Time to try you out," she now smirked.

The poor man underneath her had no idea what hit him as he was now pinned under her, blade cutting through skin as easy as paper. Her first kill ever and she felt good about it.

"Sorry mother, but the world has no place for good hearted people like me."

"Looks like your daughter will be following in her fathers footsteps after all," a young looking man smirked. "I can't wait to meet you Empress Emily Kaldwin."

A mechanical heart beat manically in his hand.

"Why Empress, do you not like what you see?" he questioned playfully.

The heart spoke using Jessamine's voice, though she now sounded uninterested.

"Corvo has set her on the wrong path. It upsets me greatly that she has chosen to follow, and that you wish to Mark her."

The black-eyed god simply smirked. "Your daughter maybe able to take on the world even without my help. But we shall see."


End file.
